Book reviews for the young and the old. This site reviews children, teen, and adult books with a few interesting things thrown into the mix. Check out the labels on the right hand side for specific genres or topics.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Monday, July 29, 2019
Dania Voss Guest Post
When I decided to try my hand at writing a short story, the
origin story of Luke Stryker and Abbey Jayne from my debut novel On the Ropes,
I didn’t realize what a challenge it would be. I was both excited and nervous
to write Off the Hook, When Luke met Abbey.
I was excited because I wanted to offer Off the Hook as a free
read to readers, to introduce them to my Windy City Nights series. I was
nervous because I had never written a short story before and Luke and Abbey’s
origin story took place when they were 18 and 20 years old. They were young
adults, not older adults like in the debut novel, which took place ten years
later.
I had quite a bit of research to do, as I do for every book I
write. For writers, research is one thing we can get mired in that delays us
from starting to write. Since Off the Hook was supposed to be short story, I
didn’t want to and couldn’t spend too much time doing research, I had to get
the story written!
But since the timeline placed their origin story in June of 2007, I had to be historically accurate on several critical things.
But since the timeline placed their origin story in June of 2007, I had to be historically accurate on several critical things.
The World Series - Luke is a pitcher for
his family’s team the Chicago Cobras so I had to research what teams played in
the World Series in 2007 and make adjustments for the Cobras to play in the
story.
Technology - I researched what the popular
laptop models were in 2007, as well as the popular cell phones. The first
iPhone came out in 2007, I didn’t know that until I researched it for the
story.
Movies – I found out which comedies
were out in the summer of 2007 and chose one for Luke and Abbey to watch in the
story.
Online Universities – Since
Luke was travelling with the team, I had to research which universities were
offering online degrees at that time. He couldn’t attend regular classes like
everyone else.
Since Abbey was 18 and Luke was 20, it was a challenge trying
to get into the mindset of younger adults. Luke was Abbey’s first boyfriend. She
hadn’t done much dating before she met him. Luke’s family is wealthy in
addition to owning the Chicago Cobras. He’d led a fairly charmed life, even
though he’d lost his parents at a young age.
I’m a plotter, not a pantser so as I’ve done with my full length novels, I created an outline for Off the Hook with word count limits for each chapter. In the end, I went over about 2500 words and ended the story with over 18,000 words, but I’m proud with the result of my first short story.
I’m a plotter, not a pantser so as I’ve done with my full length novels, I created an outline for Off the Hook with word count limits for each chapter. In the end, I went over about 2500 words and ended the story with over 18,000 words, but I’m proud with the result of my first short story.
Born
in Rome, Italy and settled in the Chicagoland area, Dania Voss is a lover of
all things pink and a huge fan of 80's hair bands. She became a romance junkie
in her teens. After decades of voracious reading, she published her first
romance novel On the Ropes, the
prequel in her Windy City Nights series in March of 2018. It was nominated as
best Contemporary Romance in the 2018 Evernight Publishing Reader's Choice
Awards.
The Warrior's Whisper was released in September of 2018 and her current romance Hannah's Bliss, with Italian int'l model
Luca Pantini on the cover, is the third installment in the series.
Website URL: www.daniavoss.com
Blog URL: www.daniavoss.com/blog
Facebook URL:
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDaniaVoss
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dania_voss
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/daniavoss/
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/daniavoss/
Skype: Rose Hudson
(r.mancinelli@outlook.com)
Buy
links:
Hannah’s
Bliss
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q7H5LZQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Hannah%27s+Bliss&qid=1553813861&s=digital-text&sr=1-1-catcorr
Labels:
2019,
Guest Posts/Interviews
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Jacqueline by Jackie Minniti
Genre:
Middle Grade, Historical Fiction
Source: I
received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my
own.
For me it
is important to provide quality books for my students. My students will have a
better grip on life during World War II from reading this book. The story
brings the reader in and lets them walk in her shoes. Most of our students have
never had to go through anything like this and so it is hard to imagine what
life would be like or how they would handle the situation. The book is based on
a story the author’s father told her. She was actually named after the
Jacqueline in her father’s story. The reader is able to see how Jacqueline and
her mother survived after losing her father to the war. This is another
resource for students to read to help them understand what it was like for
non-Jewish people who had friendships with their Jewish neighbors. This was a
time that was dangerous for both Jews and non-Jews alike. Because this is
historical fiction, students will be enticed to learn more to distinguish what
was fact and what was fiction. Since I
teach a unit with readings about the Holocaust, this is a welcome edition. Well
done in writing a book that kids can relate to and adults will enjoy reading.
Labels:
2019,
Historical Fiction,
Middle Grade
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